A Good Neighbor : Apartment Dweller Is Saved From Fire by Man Next Door

A barefoot neighbor who kicked in the door of a burning townhouse Thursday where two 72-year-old men slept and crawled through the smoke to pull one of them out was credited with saving a life.

Martin Evans, a 34-year-old unemployed carpenter, said he was awakened by a neighbor’s screams at 11:45 p.m. and realized almost immediately that the people next door in Apartment 28 were in trouble.

“I knew there was an old guy in there, and I knew he’d be having trouble, so I didn’t think about the other stuff like the danger,” a weary and soot-stained Evans said Thursday. “I just thought, he needs help getting out of there.”

Evans said he tried the door and found it locked, so he kicked it in. He made his way upstairs and inched toward the area where he imagined the bedroom would be, shouting to anyone. He heard a moan, and crawled toward the voice.

“I had my ear on the carpet,” he said. “I couldn’t see a thing. All I could hear was the crackling of fire.”

He discovered Marvin Jones sprawled in a bedroom entry and dragged him by a leg to the staircase, then carried him down.

“He was conscious but unable to move,” Evans said. “In fact, I don’t think he wanted to move. He was grabbing things as I pulled him. When I brought Marvin downstairs, I asked him at least 100 times, ‘Is anyone else up there?’ And he said, ‘No.’ ”

Evans had pulled Jones to safety and was sitting with the elderly man on his lap when city firefighters arrived at the Fountainbleau Apartments, in the 1500 block of West Culver Avenue.

Paramedics found Evans’ roommate, Felix Garcia, in a rear bedroom and took both men to the UCI Medical Center burn unit, Battalion Chief Rey Montoya said.

A hospital spokeswoman said Garcia suffered second-degree burns on his face, and Jones suffered first- and second-degree burns on his back and upper body. Both were suffering from smoke inhalation and in serious condition.

Battalion Chief Frank Frasz said the fire appears to have started in the mattress of one of the men, a smoker.

“However, it is unconfirmed that that is how it started,” he said.

Apartment manager Ron Bahra said fire officials told him the apartment was littered with cigarette butts. A charred bed, melted television and burned Louis L’Amour novels scattered the pavement below the burned townhouse.

The blaze caused $25,000 in damage to the upstairs of the townhouse, but other units were not affected.

But fire officials said the fire could have been tragic if not for Evans’ help.

“He definitely saved the guy,” Frasz said. “He was instrumental in removing him from harm.”

Neighbor Timothy DeWitt, 43, was first to see the flames and dial 911. DeWitt, a student, had just finished his schoolwork when he noticed “a furnace glow” from the windows of Apartment 28. He began yelling “fire” and calling out the apartment number.

Another neighbor trained a garden hose on the flames until firefighters arrived.

“It was just the call of community spirit,” DeWitt said. “We just helped each other out and got everybody clear of the fire.”

Evans said he was just thankful that he acted fast, and that he went to sleep in shorts Wednesday night.

“I’m usually stark naked,” he said.

Evans got two job offers Thursday after his good deed and planned to visit a local construction site today for an interview.

The night’s events were confusing and traumatic for Evans’ children, Ashleigh, 5, and 4-year-old James. A neighbor took Evans’ wife, 36-year-old Liz Evans, and the children in for a few hours as fire crews mopped up. But Ashleigh said she had trouble getting back to sleep.

“Daddy,” she said Thursday, “you almost got killed.”